Lancing girl Amelia Smith is looking forward to her big ballet night!

Ten-year-old Lancing girl Amelia Smith takes to the stage in a new ballet Cinderella In Hollywood which will be presented at The Hawth in Crawley on November 9-10.

Spokesman Ben Garner said: “The exciting new ballet will star international principal dancers Samantha Camejo, Monica Tapiador, Clair Corruble, Philip Tunstall, Julianne Rice-Oxley, Oliver Speers, Steven Wheeler and Brenden Bratulic. All the soloist and corps de ballet roles in the production will be performed by 100 of the finest dancers (aged eight-18) from West Sussex and the surrounding areas.”

Tickets on 01293 553636 or www. parkwoodtheatres.co.uk/The-Hawth.

Ben added: “English Youth Ballet (EYB) held a huge audition for the ballet in July this year. The excitement and atmosphere were electric. The lucky dancers heard they had been accepted on the day. EYB has helped many of the UK’s top talent springboard their training progress and careers into some of the world’s greatest ballet companies including the Royal Ballet Company and English National Ballet.”

“Rehearsals for the ballet are taking place at Sackville School, East Grinstead. Brazilian principal dancer Samantha Camejo will be dancing the leading role of Cinderella and she is training the young cast in rehearsals. She previously danced with the English National Ballet. She said “The young dancers are treated just like the professionals in the rehearsals with EYB. They discover what having a dance career might be like, both in the studio and on the stage. It is an amazing experience for them.”

The young cast will rehearse for just 11 days for the production. During those days EYB take over three of the biggest rooms in the school and run rehearsals simultaneously in each room. At the end of each rehearsal day the whole cast comes together in the largest space to share what has been learnt that day. The young dancers see the production taking shape like a big jigsaw.

Samantha added: “I enjoy meeting all the talented young dancers up and down the UK. I try to mentor and inspire the young dancers and help inform them about the profession.”